The Maze
by WinterDrake
Summary: ...


**Chapter 1**

Erwin Smith, a tall, intimidating man with blonde hair and thick eyebrows, sat at his desk in front of four armored knights. The late afternoon sun shone into the large office as he briefed his knights on their next mission. Erwin was the commander of a guild of knights called the Survey Corps. He took over the old knight guild and built up the failing wreck to become what is was today, a prosperous organization that was a source of pride for the country. In his younger years Erwin was a knight in the service of King Fritz, the ruler of the country. But soon Erwin lost faith in the royal family as they cared little for their people. He left in his early twenties to take over the guild from its former commander, Dot Pixis. Erwin was now in his mid-thirties and had been successful in making the Survey Corps the best and most trusted guild in the country. Citizens from other countries would even travel here to the country of Shiganshina to seek out help from the Survey Corps.

There was an extensive screening and training process that a person would have to undertake before becoming a knight. Once a trainee passed three years of training they would be given the title of knight and be allowed to take requests given to the guild from anyone; from the poorest farmer to the richest noble. The Survey Corps was created to serve the people but they worked for a price. If someone could not afford it however, there were arrangements made for other compensation or payment in installments. They Survey Corps did everything from escorting to gathering to capturing criminals, as long as the mission was approved by Erwin. They were usually hired for guarding and capturing fugitives.

Standing before the commander in his office was Eld Jinn, Petra Ral, Gunther Schultz and Oluo Bozado. All were dressed in the plain, traditional silver, tan and black armor of the Survey Corps Knights. The metal portions of the armor were light and did not cover the entire body to allow quicker and more agile movements. The most vital parts were protected with metal, the rest with dark colored leather armor or strips of it. The goal of the knights was not to get hit at all rather than bear their enemies attacks. Each knight carried twin blades and a small, metal shield that was usually strapped onto their forearm.

Eld was a tall, blonde-haired man with an easy smile and friendly demeanor. He was a bit of a joker but he was strong warrior and was usually placed in charge on missions. Petra was a short ginger-haired woman with golden eyes and a deep kindness in her soul. She was a fierce fighter, especially when angry, and excellent in a team. Gunther was a dark haired and intelligent man who had good qualities for leadership. He was the most serious of the group. Oluo was a white haired man, though he was quite young. He was only nineteen, like Petra, while Gunther and Eld were in their early twenties. Oluo was considered the strongest in the group and very sure of his skills. He was also arrogant and had a habit of quarreling with Petra. All four knew each other quite well and had worked in a team previously.

These four knights were some of Erwin's best and had volunteered for this mission last minute. The other few knights available had been dissuaded by the reputation of the city they would need to travel to for the mission. There had been reports of bandits heading into the once sacred city of Trost.

Trost was now a ruin and considered cursed by the people who lived nearby and they tried to dissuade people from entering. Even King Fritz had forbidden the citizens from doing so but he did nothing to enforce it. There was many reports of people going missing after traveling there and of strange sounds and screams being heard if you wandered too close. Recently though, rumors had been surfacing that there was untold riches hidden in the city's ruined depths and that had attracted treasure seekers and bandits.

"You know your mission." Erwin concluded. "If you find any hostiles do not engage them unless you are sure of their numbers and know you can win. If not, you must come back and inform us and we will send a larger force when it is available. There shouldn't be too much trouble if this is anything like last time, understand?"

"Yes, sir!" The four knights assured.

"Good. You are dismissed. I wish you the best of luck."

"Thank you, sir." They chorused as they left the commander's office to begin preparations.

On their way out, a dark-brown haired knight almost crashed into them, or more specifically into Petra as she was in the front of the group. Petra stumbled back into Oluo with a cry, who then grimaced as he recognized who it was. Hanje gave a large smile when she saw them. She was excited at the prospect of being able to see Trost again. She had not been able to research the place as well and she would have liked last time and there was now a perfect opportunity to go again. She had a few theories about the people of the city she wanted to prove and learn more about the place and its culture.

"Oh! Is Erwin sending you to Trost? I need to prepare but I am a -" Hanje began excitedly.

"Hanje, leave them. You are not going to Trost. We had enough trouble dragging you back last Spring." Erwin's exasperated voice rang out of the room. Eld and Gunther stepped around Hanje and began to walk away with a roll of their eyes. Petra grabbed Oluo's arm as he tried to stay to watch. The four knights saw Hanje dash into Erwin's office in panic. They hurried away and hoped Erwin would not give in to Hanje, though she was an amazing knight and strategist, she was a little too eccentric and hard to be around for an extended amount of time. She would always go on and on about her theories.

"But I need to test my theories! I need to research! There is so much we don't know-" Hanje wailed, throwing her arms open to demonstrate.

"No means no. I need you here as my second in command. We are short-handed enough as it is." Erwin reminded causing Hanje to visibly deflate. She would listen to her commander.

"Alright then, but could I at least get those four to do one tiny little thing for me?" She pleaded, clasping her hands in front of her. Erwin sighed but asked her what she wanted.

* * *

"Hey, Petra! So why did you volunteer for this mission? I bet you couldn't get wait to be near me again, right? I am the best Survey Corps has to offer, after all." Oluo boasted as he mounted his chocolate colored horse in the Survey Corps barn. His horse, Aragon, fidgeted in anticipation of being let out in the dimly lit barn. He pawed at the ground and pulled on his reins. Many stalls in the barn were empty as most knight were on missions of their own. There had been a string of requests from people all over the country needing help. A neighboring country on bad terms with king Fritz had released many hundreds of their prisoners in Shiganshina last year. Since then, there had been many reports of theft and murder, with former prisoners joining up to terrorize towns and cities. The Survey Corps was trying their best to handle it but it was overwhelming them. They had lost many good knights in just a short time.

"Shut up, Bozado. I volunteered because I wanted to. I would have rethought that decision if I knew you were coming." Petra snapped as she placed a few more items in the saddlebags of her equally chocolate colored steed. Her Brightheart was a very docile and even-tempered horse. She had a large scar on her leg from an accident when she was a filly but it did nothing to hinder her movement.

"Tch! You know you want me. I bet you dream of our wedding day. Don't worry you'll be a fine wife for me... In time." Petra could almost hear his smirk in his words.

"I think you're deluding yourself." Petra responded as she finished her task and then glared at him. "I don't plan on being the moron that ends up with you for the rest of her life." He would have responded but they heard hoof beats coming nearer.

"Knock it off you two and hurry up." Gunther's voice came from behind them. Both Oluo and Petra turned to see an amused Eld and scowling Gunther before both of them passed by, leading their own horses out of the barn. Eld's pretty dappled horse was named Veronica after his childhood sweetheart. Gunther's fierce and bulky brown steed was named Kirin.

"Coming!" Petra shouted as she glared at Oluo one last time. She mounted Brightheart and spurred her forwards. She heard Oluo's horse follow behind her. Once everyone together they rode for the city gates to be let out. Most cities had walls surrounding them to protect them. Shiganshina was no different.

"Waiiiit!" Came a loud and familiar cry from behind them as they neared the massive metal gates leading to the outside world. Hanje spurred her horse at full speed toward Petra and the other knights. Once within reach, she quickly dismounted and rummaged through her horse's saddlebags.

"Take these!" The woman shoved a few items at Eld, the closest to her. He almost dropped them after Hanje let go to move on to the next person. She then went to each of the other confused knights and gave them the same treatment. Hanje gave them each a notebook, a few sheets of paper and some writing implements.

"Those pens were expensive so try not to lose them. They are a prototype that should keep the ink inside them. If not, its alright. It'll just stain your clothes. You can always buy new ones!" Hanje jabbered excitedly.

"What are we supposed to do with these?" Petra questioned as she stuffed them inside her very full saddlebag. It would be a long trip and they would need a large amount of supplies.

"Well, write of course! What else are you supposed to do with it? I gave you each a quick copy of some of the things I want you to figure out for me. Erwin's being a prick-" The knights cringed at this, "-so that means I can't come with you to do it myself so its now your job. Try using your head for once please, this is to be done for research!"

"Can we just ditch her? I don't want to hear this crap." Oluo whined while dumping the papers and pens into his own saddlebags. Petra couldn't help but want to do the same. Hanje was her superior but Petra did not want to get caught up in her research. She was not looking forward to having to do extra work but if it made Hanje happy, she guessed she could try to do it.

"Everything I need for you to do is in my notes, take a look at those and make sure you find out everything. And don't do a half-assed job about it! Oh and make sure-" Hanje did not seem to want to stop any time soon but the noise from gears turning to open the doors halted her speech for a few moments.

"I apologize, Hanje, we need to leave. We will try our hardest to do as you asked but we make no promises. There may not be any time for this." Eld began as Hanje opened her mouth again, "Let's go everyone!" The horses surged forward at a dash leaving the second-in-command behind.

"Well then make time for it! You are Survey Corps, I'm sure you can handle anything that thrown at you!" Hanje yelled after them.

* * *

_So this will be one of the first things that I wrote that I am publishing on this site. ^^' I know I am not the greatest writer but I hope you like it! __I'm using the SNK wiki for the spelling of character names. _

_I have no summary for this story yet, I will post one when I think one up._

_Updates will likely be irregular as I work on my fanfics when I am in the mood. __Constructive criticism is always welcome, please PM me if you do not want to post it in the reviews. :)_


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